Brian Jones said before North Dakota’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game that he most worried about his team’s ability to score against No. 2 seed Arizona.
Jones seemed confident in his team’s ability to guard the much taller Wildcats. On Thursday in the first round of the West Regional, 15th-seeded UND looked competitive offensively for the first 10 minutes of the game and the duration of the second half. But the Fighting Hawks could not put together a string of stops as the Wildcats scored early and often.
Arizona shot 58.1 percent and put five players in double figures to post a dominant 100-82 win to move into the Round of 32 by dispatching the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament champions.
North Dakota’s season ends 22-10 after claiming its first Big Sky titles, regular season or tournament.
North Dakota senior Corey Baldwin
Early on, UND did not look overmatched despite Arizona carrying a Top 5 ranking for most of the season. The Hawks fought their way to a 12-11 lead early behind two 3-pointers from red-hot senior Corey Baldwin. But the Wildcats answered with seven straight in just two possessions.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright hit a 3-pointer, UA got a stop, Allonzo Trier drilled a jumper and UND’s Carson Shanks was called for a loose ball foul. Arizona gained another possession and Chance Comanche converted a layup to turn a one-point deficit into an 18-12 lead. Arizona did not trail again.
UA freshman phenom Lauri Markkanen, a 7-footer from Finland who will be a top pick whenever he declares for the NBA Draft, hit six straight shots and scored 16 points to stake Arizona to a 53-37. The Wildcats shot 61 percent in the first 20 minutes.
After halftime, North Dakota whittled the lead all the way down to seven, 68-61, with 12 minutes left. But UA used a 10-0 run to push it back to 17.
North Dakota executed offensively throughout, shooting 46.4 percent from the floor despite Arizona’s significant size advantage. The Fighting Hawks shot 10-of-22 from beyond the arc while Arizona made just four 3s in 11 attempts. UND notched 18 assists on 32 made buckets — Arizona made 36 field goals.
But UND missed the free throw on three straight 3-point play chances in the first half and half of its 16 free throws overall. UA earned a huge advantage at the stripe, sinking 24-of-28 free throws.
UND senior Quinton Hooker
Trier led the free throw barrage, hitting 9-of-10 from the stripe on an 18-point evening. Markkanen and fellow freshman Rawle Atkins each scored 20 points. Atkins made all eight of his shots and added five assists. Dusan Ristic, a 7-foot junior from Serbia, scored 12 points.
At times, UND senior Quinton Hooker looked like the best guard on the floor, like during North Dakota’s run to open the second half that included one of Hooker’s five 3-pointers and a sweet bounce pass to Shanks for a dunk. He finished his final game with 25 points and four assists but he missed both free throws, freebies that would’ve capped 3-point plays. Hooker shot 90 percent from the stripe in Big Sky play.
Junior Drick Bernstine missed two 3-point play chances but converted a third in the first half. The 6-foot-8 stretch 4 battled down low all night, grabbing 15 rebounds, including five offensive boards, while scoring 20 points. He finished 4-of-7 from the free throw line.
Baldwin capped his career in style, hitting four 3-pointers Thursday, giving him 15 treys in 25 attempts since the beginning of the Big Sky Tournament. Sophomore Geno Crandall turned on late, scoring eight of his 12 and dishing out four of his six assists after halftime.
North Dakota graduates Hooker, Baldwin, Thomas Blake and Devon Pekas from a team that won 14 league games last season.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
